October 25, 2012
Three quarters of sexual assaults committed by U.S. servicemen in Japan since 1989 have occurred in Okinawa and Kanagawa prefectures.
This came to light in data recently released by the National Police Agency in response to an inquiry from Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken.
The data shows that over the past 23 years, 67 U.S. soldiers in 55 rape cases were arrested across Japan. Of them, 33 soldiers in 29 cases were based in Okinawa, 18 in 12 cases in Kanagawa, and 8 in 6 cases in Nagasaki which hosts the U.S. Sasebo Naval Base.
The U.S. rape cases reported to the police would be larger than the number of arrests. Given that rape victims hesitate to report the crime, the number would increase drastically if unreported rapes are taken into account.
Following Okinawa, where 74% of U.S. military bases in Japan are located, Kanagawa hosts the second larger number of U.S. military bases, including the U.S. Yokosuka base, homeport for a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
This came to light in data recently released by the National Police Agency in response to an inquiry from Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken.
The data shows that over the past 23 years, 67 U.S. soldiers in 55 rape cases were arrested across Japan. Of them, 33 soldiers in 29 cases were based in Okinawa, 18 in 12 cases in Kanagawa, and 8 in 6 cases in Nagasaki which hosts the U.S. Sasebo Naval Base.
The U.S. rape cases reported to the police would be larger than the number of arrests. Given that rape victims hesitate to report the crime, the number would increase drastically if unreported rapes are taken into account.
Following Okinawa, where 74% of U.S. military bases in Japan are located, Kanagawa hosts the second larger number of U.S. military bases, including the U.S. Yokosuka base, homeport for a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
